BLOOMINGTON – On Monday night, Archie Miller delivered one of IU’s most important recruits in the last decade. On Thursday afternoon, he addressed a more targeted need.

That’s when Miller landed a commitment from 6-10 Saint Mary’s graduate transfer Evan Fitzner. A career 41.5-percent 3-point shooter, Fitzner will be expected to help repair an offense that shot just 32.2 percent from distance last winter.

Fitzner fills the Hoosiers’ final open scholarship, presuming Juwan Morgan eventually withdraws from the NBA draft and returns for his senior season.

Miller is using the graduate transfer route to fill that last spot, in the right way and at the right time.

Other than inconsistent point guard play, Indiana had no bigger hole in its offense last season than 3-point shooting. The inconsistency made it a struggle to space the floor and give Morgan room to operate in the post.

Between Devonte Green’s late-season emergence, and the arrival of McCutcheon High School product Robert Phinisee, Indiana now has desirable competition at the point.

Romeo Langford should help boost numbers behind the 3-point line, but Miller now has another option beyond this year’s IndyStar Mr. Basketball.

Indiana’s team 3-point percentage was the lowest such number stats website KenPom.com has ever recorded for the program, but Fitzner counts long-range accuracy as a strength. He shot 40 percent from behind the arc last season — a number better than any posted by an IU player — and that performance was his career low. His 65 attempts were also a career low. In each of his first two seasons, Fitzner shot more than 100 3s.

Over 104 games at West Coast Conference power Saint Mary’s, Fitzner also proved an effective (if not prolific) rebounder, particularly at the defensive end. And he has a career mark of 53.5 percent on 2s, across 215 attempts.

His 3-point accuracy is what IU needs most, and it’s a major reason Miller and his staff targeted Fitzner.

“Coach Miller wanted that to be filled by a big guy,” Fitzner said. “He wanted a big guy who could space the floor.”

Landing a graduate transfer means the Hoosiers will be guaranteed at least two scholarships to offer in the 2019 recruiting cycle. That number can rise depending on other factors, like transfers and Langford’s professional potential.

Indiana won’t have to ask too much of Fitzner, either.

These transfers straddle an awkward line. As experienced heads, grad transfers are often expected to lead and contribute in ways a freshman might not. Yet they have just a few months to pick up the nuances of a new program. The trick is finding an adequate role for a player like Fitzner.

If Fitzner turns in quality defensive minutes, rebounds close to what he did at Saint Mary’s and remains a consistent 3-point threat, he adds exactly what IU needs.

And he brings the muscle memory of three years of winning at Saint Mary’s, one of the nation’s best mid-majors.

In three seasons with the Gaels, Fitzner was a part of 88 victories. For an Indiana team that counts nine freshmen and sophomores among its scholarship players, that experience is invaluable.

“It’s a younger team out there for sure,” Fitzner said. “I could help a lot in that area, just with leading the team and doing everything I can.”

For both the player and his new program, this move makes sense. Fitzner will graduate this month. He expects to be on campus in Bloomington by July, after a recruitment kept so low key Fitzner didn't announce his intention to transfer except to a handful of schools.

And while Langford’s commitment are getting bigger headlines, Fitzner’s arrival should cross a problem off the list as well.